Conveyer for annealing furnaces



Dec. 15, 1925- J. E. MONTGOMERY CONVEYER FOR ANNEALING FURNACES Filed Feb. 14 1924 2 Sheets-Shoot. 1

v [/vvavro/a Dec. 15, 1925- .J. E. MONTGOMERY CONVEYERFQR ANNEADING FURNACES Filed Feb. 14, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 GOMERY, 1 America,

Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,566,16t PATENT OFFICE.

JULIAN n. MONTGOMERY, or wnnnnme, wnsr VIRGINIA.

CONVEYER 'FOR AN NEA LING FURNACES.

Application filed February 14, 1924. Serial No. 692,752.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JULIAN E. Moura citizen of the United States of of Ohio, invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cppveyers for Annealing Furnaces, of which the following is a specification. v

. This invention relates broadly to conveyers for sheet mill furnaces, and more specifically to a conveyer for the furnaces of the continuous sheet heating, normalizing and open annealing type.

" furnace embodying The primary object of the invention is to provide, in association with a sheet m1ll an annealing chamber sheet advancof continuous type, a rotating wholly ing mechanism which is journaled outside the furnace walls.

A further object is to provide, in an annealing furnace, comprising a plurality of rotatable shafts carrying disks which "project above the-level of the furnace hearth and upon which the sheets are advanced, said shafts having their bearings located outside the furnace walls and, consequently, being wholly unsupported, or floating, in :those portions located within the furnace, thereby to obviate such diificulties as are encountered when shaft bearings are located within and subjected tothe high temperatures of suchfurnaces.

With these and other objects in view,- the invention resides in the features of construction, arrangement of parts and combinations of elements which will hereinafter be fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse section of the upper portion' of a furnace structure embodymg my invention; and- Figure 2 is an enlarged cross section of the annealing chamber illustrating the application of the conveyor mechanism, the latter being shown in longitudinal section.

Referring to said drawings, 1 indicates the fire box, 2 the heating and annealing chamber, and 3 the intermediate bridge wall of a furnace which may be either of hand or stoker fired type,'or which may employ gas, oil,'o r powdered coal as fuel.

Disposed within the annealing chamber .2 inpositions underneath the level of the hearth 4 isa plurality of shafts 5, each having fixed thereon a pluralityof carrier disks 6 which project above the hearth level and and resident of Wheeling, county and State of West Virginia, have a sheet carrier or conveyertype and is formed intermediate its ends tok provide a housing 10 for a worm gear 12, fixed on said shaft, and for a worm 13 which is disposed in driving relation to said gear. A suitable bed late 14 anchored upon the foundation 15 orm's amounting for said pedestal 23, as shown.

Each shaft 5 is of hollow tubular form and has a plug 16 removably mounted in its inner end. Disposed concentrically within the hollow of the shaft is a tube 17 which constitutes a conduit for the admission of a circulating cooling medium, as water, whereby the portion of the shaft subjected to' the high temperatures of the annealing chamber is maintained in a relatively cool condition. Said tube 17 terminates at its inner end adjacent to the position of the plug 16 and discharges at said end to. the interior of the shaft, whence the cooling fluid courses back between the tube. and the shaft and discharges through an outlet pipe 18 which is tapped into the upper wall of a cap 19 that constitutes a closure for the outer end of said shaft. The outer endflof the tube 17 has communication through a port or passage 20 provided in said cap with a fluidet pipe 21 leading from a suitably located supply main, as 22.

It will be noted that the drive gearings and all hearings or journals for the carrier shafts 5 are located wholly outside the furnace walls and that, due to the absenceof such bearings in the furnace walls, the usual difficulties attendant upon the maintenance of bearings for such shafts at low temperature and encountered in supplying adequate lubrication for such bearings are'eliminated. An evident advantage possessed by the structure described is that the shaft-5 may be bodily introduced and removed, as oocasion requires, through the opening!) provided therefor in the furnace wall 8.-

While I have herein shown and described the annealing chamber as having a hearth the equivalent of the hearth.

What is claimed is 1.. The combination with, the heating chamber of a continuous furnace, sheet conveying means operating within said chamber, said means comprising rotary shafts of tubular form disposed transversely of said chamber, sheet-carrying disks mounted on said shafts, bearings located exterior to the outer wall of-said chamber constituting the sole means of support for said shafts, gearings for-driving said shafts, and means for circulating a cooling fluid through said shafts.

2. The combination with the heating chamber of a continuous furnace having a fire box located laterally thereof and separated therefrom by a bridge sea, of sheet conveying 'means operating within said chamber, said means comprising rotary shafts of tubular form disposed transversely of said chamber and at right angles to said bridge "wall, sheet carrying disks mounted on said shafts, bearings located exterior to the outer wall of said chamber which is'located opposite said bridge Wall, said bearings constituting the sole means of support for said shafts, gearings for driving said shafts, and means for circulating a cooling fluid-through said shafts, said circulating means com rising a tube disposed inside each shaft, means supplying cooling fiuidto the outer end of said tube, and means for discharging said fluid from the outer end of said shaft, said tube being in" open communication atits inner end with the interior of said shaft.

3. A conveyer for furnaces, comprising,

in combination with a heating chamber separated by a bridge wall from the fire box of a plurality of rotary shafts crossing said chamber at right angles to said bridge wall and below the level of the hearth of said chamber, sheet-carrying disks carried by each shaft projecting above said hearth level, each shaft being projected through the outer wall of said chamber and terminating at its inner end short of said bridge wall, bearings for said shafts located wholly outside said outer wall, means for driving said shafts, and means for artificially cooling said shafts.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

JULIAN E. MONTGOMERY. 

